


Apple Sharlotka

by Littlechick7664



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: I have never tagged anything before, Kitchen Nymph AU, Light Angst, Magic and Baking, fairy magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 02:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14510646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlechick7664/pseuds/Littlechick7664
Summary: Sidney is supposed to be a hockey player.  Taylor is supposed to be the Crosby child who inherits her mother’s magic.  Instead Sidney gets his first vision when he is 10.  And his life, his future is suddenly gone and he has to find a new path to the NHL.(This is the first summary I have ever written .... this story has magic and baking and Sidney and Geno and miss communication and missed chances.)





	1. Magical Inheritance

There are many ways that magic born from fairy blood manifests. Trina Crosby is a genius when it comes to herbs and plants. She can cure almost any ailment, physical or otherwise with her potions, poultices and teas. 

Sidney is the first male to have magic flow through him in many generations. The whole family believed his sister Taylor would be the Crosby child with magic because the gift and the fairy blood are traditionally passed from mother to daughter. 

Troy Crosby is a hockey player. He has never made it to the NHL but he believes his son will. Sidney skates like he was born to be on the ice. Both Trina and Troy are stunned the first time Sidney has a vision. He is 10 and Troy has a concussion. Trina is out gathering herbs for a poultice and Sidney is in the basement, shooting pucks into the old dryer. Troy is in the darkened bedroom, eyes closed, thinking about how thirsty he is when Sidney walks in holding a glass of water. 

Later, when his mother asks him why he brought his father that glass of water, Sidney simply says, “I saw that he needed it.” And Trina knows that her son is the child that inherited her fairy blood, her magic. 

At first and for many years all Sidney’s magic does is help him to help others. He’s considered a lesser fairy with a single gift. His visions come with images of people he cares about and what they need in that moment. He brings herbs and ingredients to his mother and ice packs and snacks to his dad. When Taylor turns 7 be brings her his old goalie pads. He begins to get visions about the people of their small community and he’s always there with the right items or words. Rumors of what Sidney can do, how he can fix things spread through the forest and fairy community. People speak of what he will be able to do when he really comes into his magic. 

But Sidney doesn’t care about any of that. He doesn’t understand what more magic could do, would he just bring more people more things? He is devastated. He understands his magic is a gift. But he also understands it has taken away the one thing he’s always wanted: hockey. To everyone else it’s simple, 2+2 equals 4. Sidney + Magic does NOT equal hockey. He cannot play competitive sports. He cannot involve himself directly in anything where his magic could influence an outcome. Sidney becomes his mothers apprentice and Taylor becomes the best goalie in her youth league. 

By the time he is 18, Sidney knows he can no longer stay in the forest. He needs to be more than the only male fairy with lesser magic. He needs to do more than bring people what they need. He thinks if he can’t play hockey at least he can (maybe, hopefully, someday) work for an NHL team. He leaves Canada for college in Pittsburgh, PA. He becomes a personal trainer and studies physical therapy with a concentration in sports injuries and rehabilitation. And he makes it to the NHL, just not in the way he used to dream about. 

Among Penguins players and staff Sidney quickly becomes known as the best trainer, the best physical therapist. He knows how to get guys to the next level in their workouts. When they get sick he knows how to make them feel better. When they get hurt he knows how to help them heal, to get back on the ice faster. 

He is the trainer of choice for almost every Penguin. But not the captain, Evgeni Malkin. “Call me Geno” is always friendly enough to Sidney, but he brings his own trainer with him from Russia. Geno’s Russian trainer can feel there is something different about Sidney but he can’t quite figure out what it is. He’d grown up hearing stories about magic and people who are different, who can do just a little bit more. He keeps his distance from Sidney and he keeps Geno away from him, too. 

Sidney is so busy with the team he does not notice this. Because he does not work with Geno, he is left to get to know him through his hockey. And Geno’s hockey is amazing. Sidney has never seen anyone move on the ice the way Geno does. He can’t stop watching when Geno is zooming around the ice taking shots on the net or playing keep away with the guys. Sidney falls in love with the boy with the larger than life personality who has everything he had to give up. 

Most days Sidney loves his job. He gets so much satisfaction from helping the players. He may not be able to skate out and play with them but he helps them compete. But it is not the same, not even close. His magic is a wall around him. And he finds himself home alone with his beta fish (the only pet that can survive his long stretches on the road) and his visions night after night. 

And then one day this job, this life isn’t enough anymore. Sidney feels a restlessness inside himself. He feels like something is bubbling up, about to boil over. It feels like a constant tingling in his hands, heart and brain. He wonders if its time to go home to the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

Connor, Bryan and Matt are the first players to arrive to Sully and Jen’s bimonthly interview and social media training known to players and staff as “Don’t Say or Post Stupid Things”. 

They notice Sidney sitting alone at the table reserved for the training staff. They are not surprised to see him there. He is usually the first one to arrive for every meeting, practice, or training session. He is holding a cup of tea, staring into space. They are surprised to see him looking so very worn out. 

Bryan looks at Sidney and then back at Connor, who also looks like he has seen better days. “Dude. You and Sidney both look like absolute shit.” 

Connor looks over his shoulder at Sidney. He has set his cup on the table and closed his eyes. Connor doesn’t chirp Bryan back. He doesn’t say how much he wants to go home, even if it’s just for one day. Instead he says, “Didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” And immediately changes the subject to the new video game coming out next week that they are all excited to play. 

Sidney knows that he is no longer alone in the conference room. He heard some of the younger guys come in and he can hear them talking now but he cannot make out what they are saying. He is mentally preparing to join the conversation when he suddenly gets a vision of Connor, his mom, and fresh out of the oven walnut fudge brownies. He gasps and grabs the table before he can fall out of his chair. This vision is stronger and clearer than any he has had before. He can just about smell the brownies. 

That night, alone in his apartment, Sidney can’t stop thinking about it. And despite never baking a single thing in his life and not having any plans to do so, he gets in his car and goes to the market. He doesn’t need a recipe. His magic guides him. He thinks about his mom and making potions with her, about Connor and Connor’s mom baking together as he preps the batter. As he slides the brownie pan in the oven he realizes he feels better than he has in days. 

The next morning, before anyone else gets in, he leaves the box of brownies in Connor’s stall. When Connor arrives he sees the box immediately. He opens it slowly and when he sees the brownies his eyes light up. He swears he can smell his mothers perfume. For the first time in days he feels really happy. He eats one immediately and saves the rest for later. 

Sidney is setting up the weight room for Kris and Patric but he sees Connor’s reaction clear as day. He can feel Connor’s happiness. He can feel the weight lift off Connors heart. This is his true magic. Like his mother and her potions, Sidney and his baked goods can bring joy and light back into someone’s day.

And so it begins. He gets visions after hard losses and blow out wins. After first dates and engagements. After fights and break ups. After injuries. After promotions. After multi point nights and after no point nights. The visions always include a baked good - a cookie or a cupcake, a muffin or a scone, a cake or a pie. 

Sidney bakes them all. He wraps them up and leaves them in the players’ stalls and on the staffs’ desks. Pretty soon the “kitchen nymph” is the talk of the building. As glad as he is to have something to fill his nights, every time he hears that he frowns internally. “Kitchen FAIRY” he wants to say. Nymphs, Sidney thinks to himself, don’t have any real talent for doing anything remotely productive. 

Jen and Dana are his two most regular “customers”. Jen gets a cinnamon scone every time she has to wrangle Geno into doing interviews. (“No way” Geno yells as he rushes past her. “Geno, YES!” She calls to his back.) Dana finds chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies waiting for him when the team gets back late from road trips and he has locker and equipment rooms to set up. 

It’s a perfect system. At least it is until Sidney gets his first vision about Geno. It happens about two months after the first vision about Connor and the brownies. Geno has gone five games without a point. Sidney wondered when he might get a Geno vision but he is still stunned by it. He is working with Phil on a couple of sore spots when he stops talking mid sentence and closes his eyes. When the vision is over he opens his eyes to find Phil looking at him like he spontaneously grew a third arm. Sidney blushes and says he just remembered he forgot to send his sister a birthday card. Phil offers to take him out for hot dogs. 

Sidney is still so in love with Geno. He knows its stupid to harbor this crush. Mostly Sidney handles it by avoiding Geno the way Geno avoids him. They are friendly polite to each other but no one has tried to extend the conversation beyond occasional hockey small talk. Sidney is grateful Geno has his own trainer so he doesn’t have to spend extended periods of time with him in close quarters. And now Sidney is going to bake for Geno. 

He tucks the box of pryaniki in Geno’s stall the next morning. And then he waits. All day and into the night. There is no way Geno’s had even one cookie. Sidney always gets a vision and a feeling of elation when someone eats his baked goods. And he’s not even had a glimpse of Geno. 

When Sidney goes in early the next morning with his daily baked good delivery he checks Geno’s stall. No box. Maybe Geno brought it home and forgot? On his way to the training room he passes one of the large trash cans Dana keeps in the room for cleaning up. On top is the box of cookies, misshapen and unopened. Sidney has no idea what to think. 

The third time Sidney sees a crushed or flattened and unopened package of baked goods he decides that he’s not going to bake for Geno anymore. Trina taught her son that some people cannot be helped. That some people do not want the help. That it’s a waste of energy and magic to make them believe in what you can do. 

Sidney feels that it is more than just the baked goods Geno is rejecting. It’s like someone simultaneously thrust his crush and his magical abilities into the spotlight and he is being mocked for both. He resolves to ignore any visions coming from Geno and concentrates his energy and efforts on the rest of the team and staff. 

Until the day the only vision he gets from any of them is Geno, missing his grandmother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really the beginning of the baking & magic story. And the beginning of Sid & Geno’s story. Again, the way Sidney’s magic works is entirely made up by me. And his magic is even more awesome because he doesn’t need recipes and it doesn’t take him as long as it would take a non magical person to bake things. I wish I was magic.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This is the first story I have ever written. I still can’t believe I wrote it. This is entirely inspired by a headcanon on nomorelonelydays tumblr blog. She was instrumental in it becoming a story from the first seed of an idea to the title to the fact that this is even a story! 
> 
> I am not sure how many chapters this is going to be. I have chapter 2 written, I just need to edit it. I have chapter 3 planned. I hope to post a new chapter every few days or so depending on my work schedule and life. 
> 
> As for the practical parts of this story, I know almost nothing about training and physical therapy and this story is more about the baking and magic and the training bits are entirely made up by me. Please forgive the many inaccuracies. 
> 
> As for the magical parts of this story, specifically Sidney’s visions: this is simply how I wanted fairy magic to work in this story. 
> 
> There will be so much more Sidney & Geno in future chapters. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this.


End file.
